Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker

AN ONLINE betting account secretly controlled by disgraced jockey Danny Nikolic was used to win $60,000 on at least one allegedly fixed horse race.

Fairfax can reveal that forensic analysis of a betting account registered in the name of a third party in Queensland has revealed that it was used by Nikolic and his brother John to hide their betting activities, including punting on an allegedly fixed race in 2011 as well as earlier races that have been queried by stewards.

The revelations come with the state government agreeing in principle to introduce new laws and reforms as part of a major overhaul of the sport's integrity called for by the sport's watchdog, Racing Integrity Commissioner Sal Perna.

Mr Perna said on Wednesday that he had found no evidence of ''systemic'' race fixing in Victoria but that he lacked many of the powers needed to find such evidence if it existed.

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In a report sparked by allegations revealed in Fairfax last year that Nikolic had fixed a race in April 2011, Mr Perna said the sport was facing a ''watershed moment''. He said ''cultural, organisational and legislative change'' was needed to protect thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing against corruption.

''While I have seen a great deal of excellent work undertaken by the racing controlling bodies and other key stakeholders, much has been reactive to identified shortcomings and has only scratched the surface,'' said Mr Perna, who has called for his office to be given the power to listen to police phone taps, to seize evidence and to compel people to answer questions.

Mr Perna also said that the stewards who currently work for the commercial arms of the state's three racing codes should instead work for a new, independent statutory body.

Racing Minister Denis Napthine said the government accepted in principle all of Mr Perna's 11 recommendations and he would be ''conducting consultation with the three racing bodies together with other racing stakeholders to determine how this recommendation could be best implemented''.

But opposition racing spokesman Martin Pakula called on the government to act immediately or explain why the recommendations should not be implemented.

One of Mr Perna's key recommendations - for a permanent police taskforce to combat crime and corruption in racing - was rejected by Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton within hours of the report's release.

Mr Ashton said police would assign detectives to investigate racing corruption as the need arose, while also revealing that in addition to the Smoking Aces race fixing probe, police had ''a number of [fixing] probes under way''.

The Director of Public Prosecutions is still assessing whether police have enough evidence to charge Danny Nikolic and jockey Mark Zahra with race fixing.

Mr Perna also called for stronger penalties to crack down on the widely accepted but banned practice by jockeys of betting on races.

''There is an acceptance that most, if not all, jockeys bet and such behaviour is condoned,'' Mr Perna said.

''Look at the sanctions imposed [by AFL clubs on players who bet] … we're ready for that sort of emphasis.''

In what could be viewed as a swipe over Racing Victoria's handling of the Damien Oliver betting scandal, Mr Perna said that managers who run racing's commercial operations had a ''hands-on involvement in integrity matters (up to and including board members)'' and that this potentially undermined the independence of stewards.

Mr Perna is still working on a second inquiry he launched after Fairfax revealed in November that racing authorities had allowed Oliver to ride during the Melbourne Cup despite knowing he had bet on a rival mount in a 2010 race.

Mr Perna's report said that laws needed to be changed in order to allow his office to access evidence captured by police phone taps, to protect informants and to force suspects and witnesses to answer questions and hand over documents.

Mr Perna said that had he possessed such powers, his view on the extent of race fixing in Victoria may have been different. ''You don't know what you don't know … It would have been nice to have the additional powers that I've asked for …we weren't really set up as an investigatory body,'' Mr Perna said.

He has also urged the government to pass new ''cheating at gambling'' laws.

Late last year, Nikolic was disqualified for two years for threatening chief steward Terry Bailey. He lost an appeal and is yet to be resentenced.

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